Berlin cannot impose sanctions on Russia without consequences for itself. This was announced on Sunday, January 23, by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an interview with the newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
As the politician noted, no one should have illusions that the introduction of restrictive measures against Russia can be painless.
Scholz stressed that the imposition of sanctions should be proportionate, if it does come to that.
The chancellor also added that reproaches about an insufficiently clear position regarding Moscow are unfounded. Scholz stressed that he formulated clear words, and they were agreed with the United States.
“And relevant is what we, the Europeans, have agreed with the American government, namely, that Russia, in the event of military aggression against Ukraine, will have to pay a high price,” he said.
In the same interview, the German chancellor stated that it was impossible to guarantee the non-expansion of NATO. However, he noted that so far the agenda does not include the issue of admitting the countries of Eastern Europe to NATO.
Earlier, on January 20, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed their readiness to take action against Russia in the event of an “escalation of aggression” on the border with Ukraine.
On the same day, Scholz suggested that Russia evaluate the benefits of cooperation with the West and admit that it is impossible to resolve the conflict in Ukraine by force. Scholz also announced Germany’s readiness to defend Ukraine from “Russian aggression.” According to him, cited by Bloomberg, Russia should recognize that “the power is in the truth” (right makes might).
On January 19, Biden said at a press conference that in the event of an escalation in the situation around Ukraine, Russian banks would not be able to conduct transactions with the US dollar. At the same time, he acknowledged that such actions threaten to negatively affect the economy of the United States.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov noted on January 19 that the scenario of a moratorium on NATO expansion is also unacceptable for Russia. According to the diplomat, this time the Russian Federation cannot be “satisfied with another trick, a dummy” of the Western countries, as it happened before. The Foreign Ministry called for clear guarantees of non-expansion of the alliance and non-entry of Ukraine into it.
On January 16, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov stressed that Russia does not show military escalation against Ukraine.
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